


The Late Shift

by Anjelle



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hooker, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-18 20:30:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2361245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anjelle/pseuds/Anjelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lately Luffy hasn't seen much of his childhood friend. It seems his new job's been taking up most of his time. Curious, Luffy decides to visit his workplace to see what he's been so busy doing</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Late Shift

Luffy bounced on the balls of his heels as he stood at the front desk of the establishment. He wasn't really sure what the place was, he'd never been in there before, but after stealthily following Ace when they parted the night before he'd deduced that it was his friend's workplace. It was kinda rundown and didn't look that inviting, but the prospect of seeing the elder youth quickly had any doubts leaving his mind, replaced by eager anticipation. It would be  _fine_! Ace worked there, after all, and Ace wouldn't work anywhere bad.

The lady at the desk finally seemed to notice him when he started wandering off, halting him in his efforts and leading him to pout.

"Is Ace here?" he asked, and when she nodded he laughed, grin stretching wide across his face. "Can he come play?"

She narrowed her eyes, a suspicious look to her face. "Are you even old enough to be here, kid?"

His face sagged into a pout and he crossed his arms. What, did you have to be an adult to visit Ace? Was it dangerous or something? Maybe he was lifting stuff. Or, like, swimming. Swimming was  _definitely_  dangerous, and he couldn't swim… but he wouldn't tell her that. Besides, if he drowned then Ace would help him! "I'm nineteen!"

The lady still seemed skeptical but didn't question him further, simply looking at a book on the desk with a whole bunch of names and numbers scribbled inside. "Well, he's not booked right now… How much you got on you?"

Luffy blinked, "What?"

"Money, kid. Cash. It's not going to be cheap."

Luffy cocked his head to the side. He had to pay to visit Ace at work? Wow, they were  _really_  stingy there, huh? He didn't have that much money saved up… but he  _really_  wanted to see Ace… He hadn't been visiting lately, not since getting that job. And when he did he didn't talk much, never looked him in the eye…

He removed a pouch from his pocket, dropping it onto the desk with a clank. The woman looked up at him curiously and he pulled his mouth taut. "Is this enough?"

She took the pouch, sliding it closer as she counted the money inside with a snort. "Barely. This all you got on ya?"

He nodded. The woman handed him a key and gave him directions to room 112 where he was told Ace would be waiting for him. Grinning and shouting back an energetic "Thank you, lady!" he tumbled down the hall, knocking thrice when he was met with the allotted room number.

"Give me a sec!" a voice hollered from inside, shuffling greeting his ears before the door was finally opened and he was met with impossibly-wide grey eyes. "L-Lu?"

Luffy went to say something when his eyes drifted downward. Ace noticed and soon he found the door slammed on his face. He stood in shock and silence, never expecting such a fierce reaction from his childhood friend. Not only that, but Ace looked… weird. He wasn't wearing a shirt, which wasn't unusual for Ace, but something was different…

He wasn't wearing pants, either.

Returning to the moment, Luffy knocked again, his face blank.

"Go away, Lu!" the elder shouted through the door, his voice slightly uneven.

The boy, in turn, pouted. "But I came to play!"

"P-pl—LUFFY! Do you even—No, just-just go, alright?!"

He furrowed his brow and knocked again.

"GO!"

"NO!"

There was a bit of a pause in the back-and-forth shouting, as though Ace was taken aback by the response, but soon he was back to it. "Look: I don't wanna see you, okay? So get outta here!"

"NO!"

"Stop being stubborn, brat!"

"NO!" he repeated. "I paid the lady to see you, so I'm not leaving until I do!"

"Paid the—Luffy, you didn't seriously…" It went quiet and the boy huffed, crossing his arms. Was Ace going to ignore him now? Why was he all upset 'n stuff? But then he heard more shuffling, and before he had a chance to ask what the other was doing the door opened once more and there he was, looking over him with a little more clothes on. They were…  _weird_ -looking clothes but, well, still clothes. But Ace was back to looking past him, not at him, and it made the younger worried. "…Come in, then."

Those words had him grinning and forgetting his concerns as he bounded into the room, wrapping his lanky arms around his friend's torso with a hearty laugh. Ace didn't tense with the action, far too use to it to care, and halfheartedly returned the embrace, rubbing his thumb on the skin of the boy's shoulder and heaving a sigh.

"…What are you even  _doing_ here? Do you know what this place is?"

Luffy removed his face from Ace's chest, looking up into soft, grey eyes with confusion. "You work here, right?" He curiously looked past the man he'd paid to see and studied the room. "Why's there a bed?"

"W-well…"

"Why're you blushing?" When Ace turned even redder and didn't answer he shrugged, deciding that he didn't care as he pushed past him and jumped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling through the dim lamplight. When his friend didn't immediately join him he looked his way with a grin. "C'mon, Ace! Let's play!"

Ace's face met his hand and he sighed, walking over to take a seat on the edge of the bed. "You don't even know what that means, do you?" Luffy blinked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain, met only with the gentle caress of his cheek, "Idiot."

"Oi! I'm not an idiot! I—"

"I sell myself, Luffy."

The boy furrowed his brow as he thought about that. He sold himself… for work? Like, he had people hire him for stuff? Odd jobs? So they'd pay him and he'd do favours for them, build sheds or rescue cats from trees or—

His thoughts stopped when Ace leaned over him, pressing their lips together in a gentle kiss. They held that pose for a moment and the elder didn't press further, never tried to enter his mouth or touch him, and as he pulled back Luffy felt almost sad, staring into sorrowful irises of grey.

He pulled his mouth taut. "…Are you hurt, Ace? Does it hurt?" he repeated, chest clenching as the other leant down, placing his forehead against the younger's shoulder.

"…A little, yeah." He wrapped his arms around Ace's torso, feeling the muscles beneath his skin shiver at the touch. "I'll be okay, Lu. Sorry you had to… see this."

Luffy shook his head and tightened his grip, feeling the slight tremble in the man's shoulder blades. "I'm happy I got to see you. I miss you."

A low, jaded chuckle vibrated in the man's throat; Luffy could feel every sound. "You saw my last night."

"But you weren't really there."

His friend pulled away, the warmth trapped between them escaping as he stared down with wide eyes.

"Hey, Ace," he started after a time, "what did I pay for?"

For a while both were quiet, silence stretching almost suffocatingly over the room as the elder gawked at him, breaths shallow and short. Then there was an answer, quiet and hushed and so unlike himself: "Sex."

Luffy blinked as everything came together in his head, lifting himself to sit upright and gently nudging Ace to take the position he previously held, straddling his hips. "Do you want that?"

Ace's jaw went slack as he stared up at him, his back flush with the mattress. "Lu, what are you…"

"I like you," he stated simply, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And I don't like seeing you sad."

Ace swallow as Luffy leaned in. "Me, too," he admitted, his hands running down the boy's sides. "That's why I didn't—"

An annoyed groan had him shutting up, Luffy pressing himself against his chest in a fast hug. "I don't care." He could just feel the way Ace rolled his eyes. As he lifted himself he grinned, seeing Ace's light blush. "Wanna?"

He received a hesitant nod that only made his grin stretch.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Hm?"

"What's sex?"


End file.
